Harris County Commissioners Court approves lower overall tax rate for FY 2021-22

The Harris County Commissioners Court unanimously approved an overall tax rate decrease for the fourth year in a row during a special meeting on Oct. 5, with the final rate reflecting a compromise between the court’s Republicans and Democrats.

The approved overall tax rate for fiscal year 2021-22 is $0.58135 per $100 valuation—a 2.97% decrease from the fiscal year 2020-21 overall tax rate of $0.59920.

Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia initially sought to provide more funding to the county’s entities, proposing an overall rate of $0.58585 per $100 valuation on Sept. 14. That same day, Precinct 4 Commissioner Jack Cagle hoped to lower property taxes for homeowners, by proposing an overall rate of $0.57504 per $100 valuation.

Following further discussion at subsequent public hearings, the court unanimously proposed the now-approved rates on Sept. 21.

Every year since 2019, the county's overall property tax rate has decreased, with the rate dropping to $0.61170 in 2019 after remaining at $0.62998 from 2010-18, according to a news release from Garcia’s office.

While the proposed tax rate is lower than the FY 2020-21 rate, tax payers may actually end up paying more since the values of homes statewide increased this year, County Administrator David Berry said during the court’s Sept. 14 meeting.

The overall property tax rate includes individual tax rates for Harris County, the Harris County Flood Control District, the Harris Health System and the Port of Houston Authority.